While living in Lake County Florida I was searching for events to sketch and I found the Leesburg Art Festival. Art Festivals are always fun sketch opportunities with artists selling their wares in tents. Tom make a living as an artist in Florida you sometimes have to be a gypsy. I got to the festival with plenty of time to spare to get a sketch. I decided quickly to make sure to get the historic clock in the town square in my sketch.
I was surprised to find that the artists were all packing up their art to break down their tents. There were many hours to go before the art festival was over. I decided to sketch even as the artists were making their escape.
The lady on the left hand side of my sketch had already broken down her tent. She was curious about me and we started to talk. She explained that the organizers of the art festival had seen that a thunder storm was coming so all the artists were breaking down and getting out of Dodge before the heavy rain started. All her tent poles were at the curb and soon her husband drove up and she packed everything into his SUV.
Across From me the guy with the pink had and shirt was selling jewelry. He was much slower to pack up. I decided to sketch him twice. The Leesburg clock kept spinning as I raced to finish the sketch before getting soaked. It turned out that I didn’t need to rush. I finished before a single rain drop fell. I closed the sketch book and decided I wanted to get a scoop of ice cream.
Leesburg has a quaint historic feel and I went into Mystic Ice Cream shop on my walk back to my car. I ordered two scoops of vanilla in a big cone and sat in the ice cream shop front counter to look out and watch for the rain. Old album covers were on all the walls and lava lamps could be found in every corner. I liked the place. I want to return some day to sketch the ice cream shop. Mystic has another ice cream shop in Fruitland Park that has Karaoke. I went there once with Stella Arbelaez, and we had a fun time sketching the place while listening to some very talented singers along with some questionable clunkers. I loved singing along, but I am not one to get on stage. Only those closest to me get to hear my singing voice. It is so rare to have a friend who loves to experience the world that way I do. I had so much fun that night. I asked the lady serving my ice cream, and Mystic in Leesburg does not host Karaoke nights.
It still hadn’t rained but the sky was now a dark slate grey. Once I got back to my Prius the first big drops hit the wind shield. It rained hard on the entire drive back to my art studio.